This profile is part of a series of 20 pieces spotlighting members of the local music community. For more Calgary 2016: Year of Music coverage, visit this page.

“It’s been a pretty crazy year,” said J.J. Shiplett, sitting and sipping a pint in the Wild Rose Taproom as December was coming to a close.

“You need somebody to help you in this industry. You can’t do it on your own. You need somebody that’s gone before you and can kind of pull you up.

“And that’s what it’s been like.”

It’s notable that the helping hand that was extended to him came from one of Canada’s most prominent and successful country musicians, one Mr. Johnny Reid.

The acclaimed and heavily awarded artist is now Shiplett’s manager, mentor and biggest champion, having heard the local roots musician singing on another act’s track.

Reid hunted him down and quickly offered to bring him along in the biz.

It came at an interesting and somewhat fortuitous time for Shiplett, as he’d just finished recording an album on his own in Kelowna and was in the middle of mixing it at Ontario’s famous The Bathouse Recording Studio when he got the call.

“I was done on the Friday and on the Sunday I flew from Toronto to (Reid’s home in) Nashville and started another record with Johnny,” Shiplett said. “So it all happened pretty quickly.”

For him, it was a no-brainer to shelve that record he’d just completed, and the album which he’ll release later this spring — likely, with Reid’s help and push, on a major label — will be something of a greatest hits record, featuring six new songs that were on that release and five songs from his 2012 debut Drifter.

He’s looking forward to people hearing that material because, as he admits, it was released with little fanfare and less followup.

“Like so many local acts I had no bloody clue what I was doing.”

Fans can get a taste of that full-length release by picking up a four-song sampler titled The E.P. that was rushed so that it would be ready for the start of Reid’s extensive cross-country tour, which, of course, Shiplett and his band are acting as an opener for.

Shiplett understands how great the opportunity will be to reach a whole new, larger and more mainstream audience and hopes that his old one, that which has followed his career, won’t turn its back on him as a result.

“I hope not,” he said. “I’ve thought about that, right because it’s a legitimate concern. I’ve been doing this for 12 years, doing house shows after house shows, and bar gig after bar gig, it’s a legitimate concern.

“At the same time, I want to have some success. I’ve been poor for 12 years, struggling to pay my bills. Sooner or later I want to have success, make some money and get in front of some crowds. So I hope I’m not selling out.”

He paused, then continued, “If you’re creating art, I think artists always have to ask themselves, ‘Who are you doing this for? Are you doing it for yourself?’ Great, that’s a legitimate answer. But I believe that I have a responsibility that if there’s something that’s inside of me that I need to say, then I have a responsibility to say it and get it to as many ears as possible.

“And here’s an opportunity for me to do that. Why wouldn’t I take it?”

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